Instead of trying to contain and control people by the ever-threatening presence of the carceral system, why don’t we take at least half of the requested $600 million and invest in tutoring, GED, and continuing-education programs, and social services to help people manage their mental health because poverty breeds stress and stress causes crime? As identified by the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs, “The level of social stress in a given locale, the higher the levels of maladaptive behaviors, violence and crime.” Instead of bulking up the budget, adding more officers to the roster, and thereby increasing encounters with police that heighten the probability for crime-and-punishment narratives that don’t help the community or the systemic problems they face - which were created by governments (local, state and federal) on purpose - why don’t we do something different? The police budget has been at or above half-a-billion dollars for the last few years, and the crime numbers remain high, pesky and intractable like a recalcitrant toddler refusing to put on pants. We cannot, will not, and have never been able to police ourselves out of crime, just as we can’t police people out of poverty. As noted by the Brookings Institution: “Neighborhoods with higher poverty and unemployment rates (often due to systemic disinvestment and public and private sector abandonment) have higher rates of violent crime, and that income inequality within a neighborhood is associated with higher rates of violence.” These are markers of poverty of which there is a direct correlation to crime. that smell that hits you on I-95 North around the Norwood exit. Furthermore, the 32209 area is known for being environmentally dangerous with 33 Superfund sites, impaired waterways, and polluted air - i.e. Johns, has an average income of nearly $90,000. The average income for the entire city of Jacksonville is nearly $60,000.Īnd if we compare to our neighbors to the south, the No. The average income for this area is a little over $40,000. In this area, where 81% of the population are minorities and 31% of the city’s Black population lives, has the city’s highest poverty rate, 29.6%, and negative job growth. You know what else characterizes the 32209 ZIP code? The CDC identified it as a H ealth Zone 1. Black men 18-40 make up the majority of the homicide victims in Jacksonville, also known as the “murder capital of Florida.” The area where the majority of these homicides happen is the 32209 ZIP code, which encompasses the neighborhoods of New Town, Grand Park, Moncrief Park, and Edgewood Manor just to name a few. The root cause of crime, especially in areas where homicides are high, socio-economic status is low, and despair aloft, is poverty. And that is because policing is not a deterrent to crime, just as the United States’ mass arsenal of nuclear weapons and role as the world’s cop is not a deterrent to North Korea’s ballistic missile launches. You would think, or at least I would, that an increase in policing -officers, equipment, programs (Hey, ShotSpotter and NIBIN) - would have a direct correlation to a reduction in crime. So, do you believe the police keep you safe? More than 10 years later, both the JSO budget and the number of homicides in the city is nearly double what it was when I first arrived. The Florida Times-Union reported there were 86 homicides that year, the lowest number on record since the paper began keeping count in the 1980s. That year the sheriff’s office budget was $350 million. I’ve lived in Jacksonville since March 2011. But what needled me even more was his request for another budget increase to $600 million dollars. That the sheriff initially wanted 200 more officers but revised his request to 80 did not make me feel, as a citizen, that I was being done any favors. So, I’m sure you can imagine that when I saw the Jacksonville sheriff’s request for 80 new officers-40 funded by the city and the other 40 funded by a federal grant-I rolled my eyes.
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